Raymond R. Selner

Raymond R. Selner was born on August 13, 1926, in the Town of Franklin, Kewaunee County to his parents, Steve and Rose (Stodola) Selner. He passed away on September 24, 2024, with his family by his side.

His parents raised him on the family farm. He served in WWII from 1945-46 and returned to work on the family farm. He married Marian Blaha on June 22, 1949. They enjoyed 55 years of marriage before Marian died on July 11, 2004. They had 5 children: Susan, David, Ruth, Mary Rose (Gerald Kudick) and Steven (Kari Duescher). Ruth passed on in 2020. He is further survived by 5 grandchildren: Karen Tineo, Greg Kudick, Michael (Shannon) Kudick, Emily Selner (Taylor Fritsch) and Madeline Selner and 4 great grandchildren: Elaina Rae Kudick, Gavin Kudick, Penelope Tineo and Julia Fritsch. His remaining in-laws are Ruth Zeman, Lynn Blaha, Jerry and Darcy Blaha and Ken and Carol Blaha.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Steve and Rose Selner, in laws Victor and Mary (Jisa) Blaha, brother William (Alice Jisa), sister Marie (Ben) Paider and sister Eleanor (Louis) Schultz, in-laws Gladys and Leo Swerbinsky, Violet and John Shedivy, Gordon and Marie Blaha, Bob Zeman, and Jim Blaha. 

He was an avid hunter, trapper, and loved fishing with his neighbors. He played softball and baseball for many years. This is where he earned his nickname “Lefty.” He was a Packer season ticket holder and went to the Ice Bowl.

He was active in local government holding the offices of Franklin Town Clerk, Franklin Town Chairman, Kewaunee County Board supervisor, and President of the Denmark School Board. During his time on the school board, he was instrumental in the construction of the high school and elementary school. He took part in the consolidation of several rural schools in the Denmark School District and used the funds from the sale of the rural school buildings to fund the development of the athletic field complex.

He was in many organizations including American Legion Post #363, a lifetime Denmark FFA Alumni member, Farm Bureau, and Kewaunee County and WI Holstein Association. He was a contributor to the Kewaunee County Historical Society and the Denmark Museum. He was president of the Kossuth Mutual Insurance Co. and guided them through the merger with Maple Valley Insurance. In 2013 he was named the Denmark Citizen of the Year.

Raymond took over the family farm which has been in the Selner family since 1872. He attended farming classes and worked to improve the dairy herd. He added registered cattle and started a breeding program that resulted in the RaMarland name. His son Steve continued the Selner tradition and several bulls from the farm had been placed in AI service. 

Raymond was a member of St. Therese Catholic Church where he served as a church trustee and usher. He was an officer of the Holy Name Society. He took great pride in the St. Lawrence Church in Stangelville, one of the sites for St. Therese. He researched and completed a successful application that named the St. Lawrence Church as a State and National Historic Site in 1989. This is one of the first churches in Wisconsin to achieve this distinction.

His interest in history led him to do more research and resulted in him writing several books on the St. Lawrence Church, Kewaunee County local history and his own family history. He took 3 trips to Czechoslovakia where he added information on the family tree back to the 1400’s. He spoke fluent Bohemian and joined the Czechs of Norman and the Wisconsin Czechs. He and his wife Marian enjoyed singing with the Czech Choraliers and dancing to Czech polkas and waltzes.

Raymond described his life as Faith, Family and Farming. He not only attended church faithfully, he did what needed doing and gave the church his full support. Family was not only his wife and children but all the aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors that shared in many good times. He was very happy to attend the Selner family reunion on September 7 where he got to see all those he loved. He loved playing sheepshead. The guys at Basil’s and C-Mart enjoyed talking with him and hearing his jokes. His philosophy on farming was to turn over the farm in better shape than he got it. His improvements in herd production reaching a 20,000 lb herd average, farm buildings and equipment show that he fulfilled his goals.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Friends of St. Lawrence Inc. or American Legion Post #363.

Family and friends may gather on Friday, September 27, 2024, at Cotter Funeral Home, 536 County Road R, Denmark from 4:00pm until the prayer service at 7:00pm. Visitation will continue Saturday, September 28, 2024, at St. Therese Catholic Parish, St. Lawrence Site, N2085 County Road AB, Denmark (Stangelville), from 9:00 am until 10:15, with the Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 10:30am. Burial will take place in the church cemetery following Mass with full military honors.

Thank you to Edenbrook for their care of Dad and to the Bellin Intensive Care Unit for their compassionate care and support.